


The Kindergarten on 104th Street

by leviibear (cozybears)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Fluff without Plot, Gen, No Plot/Plotless, Short & Sweet, Teacher Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), This is completely platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-02-10 17:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18665104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cozybears/pseuds/leviibear
Summary: Levi never intended to end up having to look after young preschoolers. Going into this profession he thought he would be simply teaching five and six year old's how to write their names. Yet, here he was, holding a crying five year old Eren Jaeger's hand whilst he puts a band-aid on the brat's knee because Jean pushed him off the swings.Though, seeing the way the child gives him a big, toothy smile as he says, "Thank you, Mr Levi!", it makes it all worth it.At least, until Ymir smacks Reiner for holding Historia's hand, and Levi then has to break up the fighting children again, and once more he's questioning why in the world he still works at the kindergarten on 104th street.





	1. Prologue

Eren _wails_. Every few seconds he hiccups, and sucks in a heaving breath through trembling lips from where he sits on Levi’s knee. One of his hands is grasped firmly in Levi’s, and the other is holding tightly onto Levi’s shirt. His tears dampens the fabric from where he’s pushed his head into Levi’s chest.

“Eren, deep breaths,” Levi says, one arm wrapped around the young child’s waist in order to keep him steady as his other hand rips the paper off the band-aid with his fingers.

With gentle hands he grabs Eren’s leg, placing it stretched out on Levi’s other knee. There’s a bloody scrape from when Jean had pushed Eren off the swings just moments before. Levi had been in the classroom, showing Armin how to tie his shoelaces when he had heard Eren’s angry yell, then Eren’s bitter, painful cry as he ran in from the playground. Jean had followed close behind him with a guilty expression, and Levi was quick to sentence the six-year old boy to the time-out corner.

He’d wiped out any rocks and sand from the scrape with a wet cloth – it had earned him a desperate, _“Pwease don’t, Mr Levi!”_ from Eren, but it had to be done – before he sat the boy on his knee.

That is how Levi ended up in this situation. That is how he ended up questioning whether kindergarten teaching really was, in fact, a great career choice.

Carefully Levi places the large band-aid over the wound. Once done, he pats Eren on the back, prompting the boy to pull away from Levi’s chest and stare at his knee.

A grin tugs on the corner of Eren’s lips. His cheeks were dusted with pink as he looks up to Levi, and says: “Thwank you, Mr Levi!”

Levi smiles back. Seeing the children be happy, learn and grow – that is what made teaching worth it.

Most of the students called him Mr Ackerman, or various version of his last name butchered (Connie called him something that sounds very close to Axe-man). It was only Eren who called him Mr Levi. It was only Eren that Levi would _allow_ to call him Mr Levi. Eren was a bright kid – with wide teal eyes, a toothy grin, and chubby cheeks – that always was kind to others, despite his childish and quick temper. His family – the Jaegers – were close to Levi’s, and so Levi had known him ever since he was a newborn.

He was also, without a doubt, Levi’s favourite.

“It’s alright, Eren. No need to thank me,” Levi replies. Eren hops off his knee, and immediately runs over to where Armin sits in the middle of the classroom on a bright blue rug. It was as if Eren had not just been crying his eyes out, for he sits beside Armin and starts to play with the soft LEGO.

With a sigh, Levi stands up and goes back to his desk in the corner of room. He pulls out a yellow form – an incident report – and begins to fill it out. From his desk, he can see each corner of the large, rectangular classroom. In the middle there is the blue rug that Armin and Eren currently played on. On the back wall across from Levi’s desk are shelves and cubby-holes, full of toys, books, and the student’s belongings that they stuck into individualised cubby-holes. Beside the shelves is a locked door to a storage room, where they kept various arts and craft items, small musical instruments for the children to practice with, and twelve little desks and chairs.

Next to his desk was a large whiteboard, and colourful posters of the alphabet, numbers, the seasons and other various things were stuck up around it. Behind is desk and in the corner is the time-out corner, where students would go to sit on a small cushion in silence when they misbehaved. That is where Jean sat now, faced away from Levi.

To the wall on his left was the glass-doored entrance to his classroom, and outside was a hallway that separated the other classrooms of the kindergarten. Beside the entrance there was a kitchen, cut off from the children via tall, child-locked white gates. In the kitchen was where the any snacks and drinks were kept – not meals, as those were prepared in a separate kitchen, and brought to Levi’s classroom on silver meal carts at set times. Across from the kitchen and on the other side of the entrance was the door to the bathrooms.

To Levi’s right was the sliding door to the outdoor area. The shaded outdoor area was connected to several other classrooms on this side of the establishment as well. A large playground stood tall in the middle, but there was also a sand-pit, grass area, and fake roads around the area that students could use to ride bikes on. If Levi was a child, the outdoor area would be like heaven to him.

Levi finishes the paper report – _I’ll have to tell Jean’s parents that he hurt another student, again_ – and then pulls out a red folder. In it was his classroom’s daily schedule, and he flicks the folder open to today’s date. Soft Ghibli music played in the background, and Eren and Armin’s loud laughs interrupt the silence.

Most of Levi’s students were still outside in the playground, as it was lunch-time for another few minutes. He had a total of twelve students – Eren, Armin, Jean, Historia, Ymir, Sasha, Connie, Reiner, Annie, Marco, Mikasa and Bertholt. For one teacher, twelve five and six-year olds would be a struggle to handle. Luckily, however, Levi had an assistant teacher Hanji, who helped out during the day.

Out of all the children, Eren, Mikasa and Armin were his favourites. He’d always been told by Erwin, the owner of the kindergarten, that it was unprofessional to have favourites. Yet Levi couldn’t help it. Eren was adorable and kind, and tried so hard to impress Levi that he’d wiggled his way to the top of his favourites very quickly. Mikasa was Levi’s niece, so of course she was another favourite. Then there was Armin – a small, quiet blonde boy who always begged Levi to tell him stories.

The rest of the day’s schedule was simple. Hanji and Levi would pull out the small desks from the storage room and set them up on the rug so that the children could then practice their writing skills. Above the rug was various lines of string, that hung from one corner of the classroom to the other. On it they would usually clip any drawings or paintings that the children did, so that when parents came in the morning they could see their creations. This afternoon they would be painting their names, and Levi had planned to pin them all up on one of the spare lines of string.

The sound of bells echoes throughout the building. Lunchtime is over.

Hanji came through the door first, wisps of brown hair all over the place and glasses on her forehead. She holds Historia and Sasha’s hands in hers, and behind her followed the rest of Levi’s students. Historia’s other hand is grasped in Reiner’s, and Levi knows what will happen the second he sees Ymir – a feisty six-year old girl with dark freckles – rushing up behind them.

Already up and out of his chair, Levi swoops Ymir up in his arms just as she manages to smack Reiner in the face. She kicks and shouts against his grasp and the other children start to laugh and talk loudly among each other at the sight. Levi scowls at them, earning their silence.

His tired eyes flickers to Hanji, who's directing the rest of the children over to the rug. She quirks an eyebrow at him, a silent question: “What?”

“Can you get Jean out of time out?” Levi says, before he turns his attention back to a now-limp Ymir in his arms. “Are you going to apologise to Reiner, or will you have to go into time out too?”

“Fine. I’ll apologise, Mr Ackerman.”

After a moment, Levi decides to put Ymir down. There's a frown on her face, and Levi hopes that means she is sincere about the apology. Reiner is still waiting in the spot where she smacked him, arms crossed, eyes glassy with tears. There's a red hand-print on the side of his cheek and Levi shakes his head softly at the sight. For a moment there is a pause as Ymir sighs deeply, and Levi smiles, satisfied that she is apologising for her rude behaviour.

Until she smacks him again, a loud whack earning a gasp even from Levi. She then turns around, ducking through Levi’s legs before he could stop her and swiftly seating herself in the time out corner without having to be asked.

Levi rolls his eyes, frustration coiling around him.

It is times like this that Levi wonders why in the world he still works at the kindergarten on 104th street. 


	2. Late Afternoons and Saturday Lunches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait between an update <3

“Eren, do you need me to tie your shoelaces again?” Levi says, pointing to the untied laces on Eren’s spider-man sneakers. “Or can you do it yourself?”

It currently is four thirty in the afternoon. All of the other children’s parents had picked them up and taken them home, and Hanji had gone up to Erwin’s office to give the day’s reports, leaving Levi alone with a quiet, oddly-blushing five-year old Eren Jaeger.

He’s sitting on the blue rug, legs crossed and hands fumbling with the end of his red tee shirt. Levi crouches down in front of him, eyebrows furrowed as he eyes the silent boy. Eren usually is always loud, talking and laughing with friends and never misses an opportunity to talk to Levi. Yet this afternoon he is quiet, and it leaves Levi confused.

“What’s up? Did one of the other children upset you, Eren?”

Eren shakes his head. Levi sits on the rug fully.

“Are you missing your parents? Your mother called earlier, she’ll be another forty-five minutes. It’s just that she’s caught up with work, that’s all.”

Eren shakes his head again, and a sigh slips past Levi’s lips. He runs his hand through his black hair, not understanding why in the world this cute little brat is so quiet all of the sudden. It’s making his heart twist. Levi hated seeing one of his children upset or hurt, and now that Eren’s so silent he’s worried that perhaps Jean went a little too far in teasing him today.

“You need to tell me what’s wrong, Eren, so I can help you.”

“Wanna’ stay wiv’ Mr Levi,” Eren mumbles, head down.

A smile curls itself across Levi’s lips and he shakes his head in relief, happy to know that the reason is not because of kids teasing him or because he missed his parents – it’s simply because Eren wanted to stay at the kindergarten a little longer.

Perhaps he’s doing a good job at being a teacher, then, if the little children actually like him enough to want to stay around. His mother had always fussed that Levi’s resting scowl and snapping temper would make any children terrified of him.

“You can stay until your mother picks you up, and then you have to go home,” Levi starts. He stands up again, but leans down and reaches out a hand. “Are you hungry? I can get you a snack from the kitchen if you’d like, Eren. We have crackers and cheese, I think. Would you like that?”

Eren lifts his head, nodding with a wide grin. There’s a pink blush across his cheeks and Levi chuckles at the sight, grabbing Eren’s tiny hand in his. They walk over to the kitchen, Eren staying outside the child-locked gates as Levi scavenges through the cupboard.

Once Levi finds what he is looking for, the two of them go back over to the rug and sit, with Levi carrying the crackers and cheese on a plate. Eren sits so close to him that their knees touched, and Levi offers the young child the first cracker.

“Mr. Levi,” Eren says, swallowing his food before he looks up to Levi. “Mikasa’s mummy said we is going over to her house on Saturday! Will Mr Levi come?”

Levi smiles and nods. His sister-in-law had called him yesterday afternoon, asking for Levi to come to her Saturday lunch. He’d already agreed to go – Levi loved his family, and enjoyed seeing them – though knowing that the Jaeger family was going too is a bonus.

Eren’s mother, Carla, and Levi’s, Kuchel, had been best friends in university. Obviously there was quite a large age difference between the two women. Kuchel had only enrolled into university after Levi had turned ten, and Eren wasn’t born until Levi was seventeen and Carla was twenty-eight. Their families had always been close since then.

“Of course I’ll be going, Eren,” Levi’s hand reaches up, ruffling the younger child’s brown hair. “I suppose I’ll be seeing you there, too?”

Eren nods, humming in agreement around another mouthful of food. Together they ate the rest of the snack in silence, Levi letting the growing child have most of the food. Eren was a lot different from the new-born that Levi had first met him as. When he was a baby, Levi and Kuchel had often babysat Eren whilst his mother worked. Now that Levi was a kindergarten teacher, he still babysat Eren way past the kindergarten’s closing times when his mother was running late.

He never cared too much, and never accepted the few dollars Carla would offer him as thanks.

“Mr. Levi…” Eren smacks his hand together, dusting the crumbs off his fingertips. He leans against Levi’s side as Levi wraps his arm around the small child’s shoulders. If this was any other kid, Levi would not allow it. After all, he’s a kindergarten teacher, and not meant to be so close with the children for it could have him sued, fired or worse, but Carla wouldn’t mind. Eren was adorable and like family to him, so Levi let him stay where he was. 

“I like Mr. Levi vewy’ much,” Eren continues, and the way his cheeks blush a deeper rose-red colour catches Levi’s attention. Levi thinks to himself, _how cute._

“Thank you, Eren, I like you very much too. You’re one of my favourite students, alongside Mikasa and Armin.” Levi says, and he gently nudges Eren’s side. “But don’t tell Jean that, or he’ll get upset.”

The young child laughs, glancing up at Levi with a gapped-toothy smile. “I won’t, Mr Levi!”

 

* * *

 

Saturday arrives. Levi dresses in a simple blue tee shirt and jeans, a lot more casual than his usual work day attire. He arrives at the house – a large, stone bricked structure with a modern, white interior and flowering garden bed out the front. There are various other cars parked in the street, and as soon as Levi steps outside of the car the sound of loud music reaches his ears.

At the door he greets his brother and sister-in-law with a massive hug, giving his sister-in-law the salad he had prepared and brought along for the lunch. When he turns down the hallway and walks out through large, French-styled doors into the backyard, Mikasa immediately runs over to him from the small playground with open arms. In the backyard is a barbeque and table full of food already set up, and the stereo inside is playing eighties hits on speaker.

Hannes, a neighbour to the Jaeger family and also good friends with the Ackermans, says hello from where he’s flipping sausages at the barbeque. Levi nods back, a smile on his lips before he turns and scoops Mikasa up into his arms, giving her a tight hug.

“Hey, brat. You only saw me yesterday!” Levi says, hand reaching up to ruffle the girl’s hair.

“Yeah, but I missed you Uncle Levi!”

His heart flips at his niece’s words, and when he puts her down he sees Eren waiting patiently behind her. Eren’s fumbling with his fingers, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he gazes at Levi and Mikasa. There’s already a large dirt stain on Eren’s green shirt and Levi shakes his head, crouching down to open his arm’s to the boy.

Just like he did with Mikasa, Levi wraps his arms around the boy and stands up, holding Eren to his chest. “How are you, Eren?”

“M’ Good, Mr Levi!”

“You’ve already dirtied your shirt, hmm?” Levi says, and pokes Eren’s chest lightly. The other boy giggles, green eyes sparkling in the morning sun as he gives Levi a wide, bright smile.

Behind him, Carla and Grisha walk in. Carla wears a yellow sundress, and Grisha wears a white tee-shirt and black pants. Levi greets them, and Carla shakes her head in frustration as she notices the dirt stain on Eren’s chest.

“You’ve been here only twenty minutes!” She throws her hand up in defeat, earning laughs from Grisha and Levi. “And you’ve stained your clothes? Seriously, Eren!”

“Sowwy Mummy!” Eren pouts. Levi thinks it’s adorable, and he raises an eyebrow at Carla as if to say, _how could you possibly scold a child so cute?_

She sighs, running her hand through her dark-brown locks before she turns and goes back into the house, presumably to find Levi’s mother. Grisha goes over to help Hannes at the barbeque, and Mikasa leaves to find Armin back at the small, home-built playground.

“Are you excited for your birthday?” Levi asks, looking at the boy and changing the subject. The date was March 22nd – Eren would be turning six-years old in eight days.

The young boy nods in his arms. “Yes! Levi, will you come to my birthday party? Pwease!”

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Levi smiles, ruffling the boy’s hair. It earns him another grin from Eren, the boy’s cheeks being painted with a peachy colour at Levi’s words.

“Levi is my favowite’ person!” He giggles, nuzzling his head into the crook of Levi’s neck. Levi simply chuckles, rubbing Eren’s back. The five-year old truly is like an over-grown _puppy_.

“What about Mikasa? Or Armin? I’m sure they’re your favourite people, too.”

“Yeah, but,” Eren pulls back, and pouts up at Levi. He speaks in a loud voice, a desperation to his words as if he needed to prove to Levi that he was Eren’s favourite person. “I also like Mr Levi!”

Hannes must of heard Eren, for the blonde man spins around from the barbeque with a grin. He’s holding the tongs in his hand, a pink apron tied around his waist. “Wait till ya’ get older, buddy, then you’ll realise Levi’s a bit of a grump and only acts nice around little kids.”

Levi rolls his eyes at Hannes teasing, “I’m not a grump.”

“I don’t know Levi, I’ve known you since university and sometimes you really can seem a bit scary,” Grisha chuckles from beside Eren, sending a wink over his shoulder. “But sure, not a grump at all.”

“Stwop being mwean to Mr Levi!” Eren interrupts the adults, throwing his arms around Levi’s neck. There’s a scowl on his face, a crease forming between his furrowed brows as he tries his best to look infuriated. Levi has to bite back a laugh at the expression – as a five-year-old, Eren looks nothing but adorable and childish whilst scowling. Eren continues: “He is the nicest person in the world!”

“Thanks, Eren,” Levi chuckles. Grisha and Hannes interrupt into bellowing laughter at Eren’s attempt of defending Levi from their teasing. After a moment, the laughter dies down, and Grisha and Hannes mumble small apologies through poorly-hidden grins before turning back around to the barbeque.

“It’s okay.” Eren smiles, blushing as he meets Levi’s gaze. The next time he speaks it is softer, almost a whisper, and he says: “I’ll always pwrotect Mr Levi.”

At that Levi’s heart grows full, and he can’t help but _aw_ out loud back at Eren. He hopes Eren won’t ever lose his stubborn defensiveness towards the people he loves. People often think that it’s a bad trait, and something that will give Eren trouble when he is older. But not Levi. Levi thinks it’s wonderful, it shows how much Eren cares for those around him and it’s good to always stick to what you love.

For the rest of the lunch Eren stays close by Levi’s side, demanding at one point that he holds Levi’s hand (in which Eren goes a deep shade of red, and Levi can’t help but chuckle silently at the sight).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi, in this fic eren is five turning six, and levi is twenty two turning twenty three.  
> also, thank u all for the kudos/comments <3


	3. Eren's Sixth Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait for an update D:

It’s Eren’s sixth birthday. Levi’s sipping on orange juice as he sits in Eren’s backyard, watching as the young boy runs around with Mikasa, Armin, Jean (to Levi’s surprise, he invited the other boy), and the other children from Levi’s kindergarten class. The sound-track to Toy Story is playing in the background, and Eren’s father Grisha is busy in the kitchen making mini-pizzas for the children to eat.

Carla is sitting out on the grass, along with Kuchel. A few parents of the children are also here, and it proved to be a bit awkward for Levi when they realised that yes, the kindergarten teacher had really been invited to Eren’s birthday party, and that Eren had actually insisted that he came. He’d asked Levi every day for the past week, as if he didn’t constantly remind the twenty-three-year-old man that yes, _I have a birthday party this weekend and you’re invited,_ Levi would forget.

Still, it did felt nice to talk to some of the parents outside of a work setting.

Levi had given Eren a big, red toy truck for his sixth birthday. It played sounds when you pressed certain buttons, and had moveable wheels. He also gave him a doll, with blue eyes and black hair, as he had remembered how he heard the child talking about wanting one desperately a few weeks ago in class. It took him a long time to find a doll that wasn’t a Barbie one, (Eren hated Barbies), but after a solid hour of searching different toy stores he did. Eren had given him a massive hug when he gave the boy his present, and smiled so wide Levi wondered if it made his cheeks ache.

The first thing he did, however, was cut all the long hair off the doll, so it was short. Carla had gasped when she saw it, and Levi only laughed as Eren had looked at it and smiled with a satisfied hum. He then had turned to Levi and said, _“Now it looks like you!”_ , and Levi had found it adorable.

In all honesty, he had no why Eren liked him so much. But it felt nice, nonetheless. If kids liked you, that’s when you know you’re a good person. Older people are fake, and will hide their dislike of you behind your back. Kids will tell you straight to your face if they think you are horrible.

Mikasa’s mother – Levi’s sister – comes over and sits down beside them. She, Levi, Carla and Kuchel all talk for a few minutes, mostly about Eren, Mikasa and Levi’s job. He didn’t mind, for it was the standard sort of conversation that they’d have whenever they met up. Being Mikasa’s uncle and the son of Carla’s best friend meant there were a lot of little connections between the Jaegers and Ackermans. Perhaps that’s why Eren is somewhat attached to Levi – he’s known the teacher since he was a little baby – and children do often look up to authority figures. At least, that’s what Carla had told Levi when he asked her one day about Eren’s infatuation with him.

Just as Levi thinks about him, Eren comes skipping over towards them. There’s a deep, red blush on his cheeks, and he slows to a hesitant walk as he comes closer. His eyes are facing the ground, his hands behind his back and Levi furrows his brows.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Carla says, catching onto Eren’s strange behaviour.

“Nothing…” He mumbles, looking up through his lashes at Levi. He holds out a shaky hand as he comes to a stop in front of Levi. Without questioning it, Levi takes it, raising a brow. He stands up as Eren starts to tug on his hand, walking around and towards the back door. As Levi follows he turns back to Carla and his family, shrugging when Carla mouths, “What is going on?”

They walk inside and up the stairs, towards Eren’s room. It’s covered in movie posters, with various toys scattered around the floor. His blue curtains are pulled back to bask the room in bright light, and Eren drops Levi’s hand as he goes over to the side-desk next to his red bed. He opens it, pulls out a piece of paper, and hides it behind his back when he turns back to Levi.

“What’s up, Eren?” Levi asks. The boy mumbles, head low, cheeks bright red.

“You have to speak up, Eren, I can’t hear you when you talk so low.” Levi takes a step forward towards Eren, and kneels down so that he can look at the little boy’s face. He brings a hand up, brushing the locks out of his eyes, resting a palm on his forehead. For a brief moment Levi wonders if perhaps he’s feeling sick – maybe the sun was too hot – but he doesn’t have a temperature. He lets his hand fall to rest on Eren’s shoulder, and continues: “Is anything wrong? You can trust me, Eren. Has someone hurt you? Made you upset, maybe?”

Eren shakes his head.

Levi frowns, growing increasingly worried. “Do you feel a bit overwhelmed?” His eyes fall to where Eren’s hidden his hands. “What’s on the paper? Did somebody give you a letter?”

Again, Eren shakes his head. Levi sighs, searching through his brain for an answer to Eren’s strange behaviour. When there’s nothing, he sighs again, eyes searching the boy’s blushing face.

“Levi,” Eren says, and he’s grateful that the boy is finally speaking. He gives him a warm smile, wanting to encourage him to continue, for at this point Levi is very worried, and very confused. Eren shifts on his feet, wiggling around, avoiding his gaze.

“Hmm?” Levi rests both his hands on Eren’s shoulders now, stilling the child.

“You… can’t tell anyone,” Eren whispers. Levi feels his heart race as his mind goes into instant panic and instant teacher mode. He starts to wonder if someone has hurt Eren, maybe they’ve done inappropriate things to him – if they have, Levi will bash their skull in, he doesn’t care if he loses his job or goes to jail – or maybe someone outside of school, maybe at his soccer practice, is bullying the poor boy. But Levi still holds his smile, still looks at Eren as he waits for the child to speak.

He pulls the paper out from behind him and shoves it in front of Levi.

On the paper, in coloured crayon, is a drawing of Eren and Levi.

They’re holding hands, wearing big smiles and Eren had even drawn what appeared to be blush on _both_ of their cheeks. Around them are tens and tens of pink and red hearts, some coloured in and some not. Underneath, written in black crayon in a child’s scrawly writing, is the words: _‘Levi and Eren Forever’_ , but forever is spelt as _‘faweva’_ , and Levi’s heart grows fond at that.

It’s a cute drawing, and not unlike what Levi had seen before. Eren often drew pictures in class that showed the two of them, sometimes holding hands and sometimes not.

But this one was a little different. Levi knows that, he sees it in the way Eren had been so hesitant to show him, and how he had asked him not to tell anyone about it. He sees it in all the little hearts drawn on the page and in the curly, unstable handwriting at the bottom of the page. He sees it in the way Eren still avoids his gaze, head down low, hiding his blush.

A month or so earlier, Levi had wondered if maybe Eren felt a little bit… strongly, about him. He wondered if it was simply that he looked up to Levi, and that’s why he had asked Carla in the first place about the boy’s attachment to him. He knew Eren saw him as his favourite person, but he’d always blush around Levi – especially when he held Eren’s hands, helped him tie his shoes, comfort him when he cried – and that’s when Levi started to notice that maybe it was a little different than usual.

The picture confirms it, however, and Levi softly smiles.

“Please keep it safe, Mr Levi. It’s vewy’ special,” Eren says, voice soft. “Do… you like it?”

“It’s a lovely picture, Eren. Thank you.” Levi takes one last look at it before he gently folds it up. When he glances back at Eren the young boy is now looking at him again, eyes glassy, lips parted a little and cheeks still ever so red. His lips curl up into a smile when he sees Levi looking at him.

Thinking the boy needs a hug, Levi puts the picture in the pocket of his shirt and holds his arms out wide. Eren is still for a moment before he rushes forward, wrapping his arms around Levi’s neck and snuggling himself into the hug. With Eren against his chest like this, Levi can feel and hear the little boy’s racing heart.


	4. Another Gift, Another Drawing

**June, Three Months after Eren’s Birthday **

“Eren, you can’t hold onto my leg.”

Honestly, Levi has no idea how he managed to get into this position. Currently, it is lunchtime on a Friday, and a six-year-old Eren Jaeger is hugging Levi’s leg so tightly, as if he would fall off the Earth if he let go. All the other children are playing outside in the sunshine except Eren, and it would be a lie if Levi said it did not make him a little bit concerned.

“I wanna’ stay wiv’ Mr Levi!” Eren pouts, blinking up at Levi with glassy green eyes.

At that, Levi’s heart twists. He kneels down, gently pulling Eren’s arms off his legs and instead pulling Eren into his lap. In an attempt to sooth the young child Levi runs his fingers through his brown locks. He frowns at Eren, and says: “Why are you crying?”

“Becwause’ I don’t want Mr Levi to leave,” Eren sniffles, leaning his head on Levi’s shoulder. “I miss Levi vewy’ much when he will go! Please stay!”

“Oh, Eren,” Levi says, starting to gently rub circles on his back as the young child cries on his shoulder. For a week he was going to the capitol to see his grandfather, and it meant that Hanji will be left to look after the children whilst Levi is gone. Just before lunch he had told the kids the news, and obviously Eren did not take it well. “It will only be a few days, and then I’ll be back. You probably won’t even notice I’m gone with Ms Hanji teaching you all the fun things she has planned!”

“C-Can I go wiv’ Mr Levi?” Eren mumbles into Levi’s shoulder.

“No, Eren, you have to stay here. I’m sorry.”

“When I older, I go wiv’ Mr Levi,” Eren pulls back, and there’s a pout on his lips. Levi smiles, simply nodding, not wanting to disagree and risk upsetting the six-year-old even more. When Eren finally smiles again, shouting a _‘Yay!’_ a little too loud. Levi laughs softly, putting the boy back down on the floor as he stands up.

“If you’re good for Ms Hanji, I’ll even buy you a gift.”

Eren’s eyes light up, his lips splitting into a toothy-grin and he jumps up and down on the spot, grabbing Levi’s hand with his much small ones and nodding. “I be good! The good-est!”

Levi ruffles Eren’s hair, and it makes the young boy blush. “I’m sure you’ll be the best.”

 

* * *

 

**One Week Later**

It’s Saturday. Levi knocks on the Jaeger’s door, a small box in his hand. He’s back from his trip to the capitol, and as he promised Eren he brought him a gift. In reality, he has no idea whether Eren actually behaved whilst he was gone. The past times that Levi had gone away for a day or more, he often acted up in class and spent the entire day pouting and sulking. Levi had meant to text Hanji to ask about the young boy’s behaviour, but it had slipped his mind. Nonetheless, he’s about 99.9% sure that Eren pouted the entire week, moped about and asked a million times when Levi would arrive home.

Yet, the present is still in Levi’s hand, because it would break the child’s heart if he didn’t get him one. Eren would have spent the rest of the day thinking he had disappointed Levi – who, according to Eren, was his favourite person in the whole world – and Levi wasn’t cruel enough to crush a little boy’s spirits. He still didn’t quite understand _how_ he ended up being Eren’s proclaimed favourite person, but it still warmed Levi’s heart up just a little bit.

Carla opens the door with a basket of washing resting on her hip, a stained red apron and a white bandana holding the wisps of her hair off her face. When she sees Levi she smiles, putting the basket on the floor and holding out her arms for him. “Levi! How was your trip?”

Levi takes the hug, “Good, good. I think I got a tiny – and I mean, a very, very tiny – bit of a tan.”

“Oh, really?” Carla chuckles. She pulls back, resting her hands on Levi’s shoulders and studying his face. “I think you did too! You’re a shade darker than paper white, now. Wonderful! You look alive!”

There’s a pause as they laugh, and Levi catches the faint sounds of a loud movie playing upstairs. He raises a brow, peering around Carla and at the wooden staircase behind her. “Is Eren here?”

“Sure is. God, I’m so glad you came, to be honest. I think I would of drove him to your house myself if I had to listen to him sulk all weekend about having to wait to Monday to see his – and I quote – favourite person. Can’t believe you, and not me, is his favourite person!”

“Ha, can’t help it the kid loves me, for some reason. Has he really been that bad?” Levi cocks his head to the side. Carla rolls her eyes, and nods, and Levi holds back a laugh at her tired expression. She steps aside and monitors him to come inside. Levi takes off his shoes and removes his leather jacket, revealing a casual white tee shirt underneath.

“Did Hanji not tell you that all he drew in class this week were pictures of him sitting alone, crying, whilst you were in a car – or sometimes a plane, and sometimes a boat – leaving him?” Carla scoffs, moving through the house to place her basket of washing on the kitchen table, right beside the staircase.

“I figured he would.”

“The poor thing. I swear, you’re literally his idol. He’s going to be heartbroken when he’s no longer in your kindergarten class. Last night, he talked to me for a solid hour about how amazing Mr Levi is.”

Levi laughs. It’s a little too loud, and suddenly there’s frantic footsteps from upstairs. Carla rolls her eyes but there’s a smile on her face as Eren rushes down the stairs, grinning and eyes lit up. He’s wearing a jumper far, far too big to be his own (Levi immediately recognises it as one of his, and wonders how in the world the child got it,) and his hair is sticking up out of the sides.

“Levi!” Eren draws out his name. He rushes towards Levi and the man is quick to leave the box on the table before he bends down, letting Eren fall into his arms. The young boy snuggles up to him, nuzzling his face in his chest and barely managing to wrap his arms halfway around Levi’s upper chest.

“Hey, kiddo,” Levi says, rubbing his back. “Didn’t miss me too much?”

“No!” Eren says.

Carla shakes her head, picking up the basket from the table as she turns towards the back door. “I’m leaving you two to it. Levi, there’s some black tea in the cupboard, if you’d like to help yourself to it. I’m hanging out these clothes, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Eren turns his head and watches his mother leave. When she closes the door, he’s back to clinging onto Levi, and begins to ramble. “I miss you so much!”

“I thought you said you didn’t?”

“Shh, I not want Mummy to think I sad!” Eren looks at him, and pouts. The same, cute pout that Levi only ever saw when the boy wanted something, missed him, or was upset. “I miss you so much, Mr Levi, I drew you pictures! Do you want to see them? R-Reiner said they bad, but- but I want Mr Levi to has them, so-”

Levi cuts him off, resting his hands on the boy’s shoulders. He’s never seen Eren blush so quickly when he says, “I’m sure your drawings are amazing, Eren. I’d love to see them! Can you show me?”

His eyes lit up and Eren smiles, nodding so fast as he stands up on his feet. He grabs Levi’s hand and drags him upstairs, racing down the hallway and pulling him into Eren’s room.

There’s a small television situated on top of a dresser playing Toy Story 3, and Eren quickly switches it off. He opens his blue curtains, pats the red quilt of his bed under the window and pulls Levi down to sit. Whilst Eren shuffles through his side-table drawers, looking for the pictures he drew, Levi takes his time to look around Eren’s room.

 He’s been in here a few times before, the last being four months ago at Eren’s sixth birthday party. It had been during the day, and after the cake had been cut and all the guests and children got a slice of the dark-chocolate goodness. Levi had been sitting beside Carla, Kuchel and his sister when Eren had appeared beside him, wearing a small birthday-boy crown style hat. He’d held out his hand and without asking what for, Levi took it and let the small child bring him up to his room.

In his room Eren had given Levi another picture. With different coloured crayons, Eren had drawn a photo of him and Levi holding hands, with large pink and red hearts all around it. He’d scribbled the words, _‘Levi and Eren Forever’_ , onto it, and he had blushed so, _so_ hard whilst giving it to Levi, and told him to keep the picture safe, for it was, ‘very special’.

Of course, later that evening Levi told Carla about the drawing. He felt that Eren’s mother needed to know, so she could decide what to do, whether she thought it was inappropriate that her young child had a little, innocent crush on his kindergarten teacher. At Eren’s birthday party it was then that Levi really realised that maybe the boy really _liked_ him, and probably a bit too much for a young child. But Carla thought it was cute, and in reality it was.

Eren had a small crush, and that was fine to Levi. He didn’t like the little boy in that way – not in a hundred million years – but there was no harm in letting Eren draw cute pictures.

Since then, Eren’s room hadn’t changed much at all. There were still photos of him, Armin and Mikasa stuck to the walls, posters of Star Wars and one, big Winx Poster on the back of his door. Trucks, barbie dolls and many, many Spider-Man toys were scattered across the floor.

“Here the pictures, Levi!” Eren interrupts his train of thought, placing a collection of crayon drawings across the bed. He points to one in front of Levi, showing a stick figure with scribbled black hair and circular blue eyes. There’s hearts around the drawing. “Dis’ one just of you!”

Levi smiles, picking up the piece of paper. He holds it closer to his face, eyes dancing over the different colours and the slightly smudged crayon. It’s cute, and in all honesty Levi doesn’t have to stare at it that long but he does, wanting to show Eren that he’s interested. The boy before him practically jumps up and down on his bed, a grin etched into his features as his hands excitedly fist the quilt, waiting for Levi to say something about his work of art.

He places the paper back down, briefly looking over the other pages, his fingers trailing across each one before his gaze is connecting back with Eren’s.

“You’re incredibly talented, Eren,” Levi starts, his heart swelling up at the way Eren giggles from the praise, “I love each and every one of them.”

“Do you really?” Eren shuffles around until he’s leaning on his knees, and he rocks forward closer to Levi. “I put many time in it for Mr Levi!”

“Of course I love them, and yes, I can see, there’s lots of extra little details. You even put my eyebrows in this one,” Levi points to a crayon drawing of Eren and Levi at the beach, with Eren holding onto Levi’s hand. “There’s also little shells, and a bird too. You must have worked really hard on them!”

“I did, I did, I want to make Levi vewy’ happy!”

“And you’ve made me very happy, Eren. Thank you so much,” Levi replies, shuffling all the papers into one pile. He watches as the young boy smiles, bright eyes still fixated on him as if awaiting patiently for Levi’s next move. Levi reaches out, ruffling the young boy’s hair. “I have a gift for you too, just as I promised. I brought it all the way from the capitol.”

“Really?” Eren gushes, and he leans even further towards Levi. “Can… Can I see it?”

Levi nods. He tells Eren to wait patiently in his room as he leaves, and goes downstairs to retrieve the box from the table. When he does, Carla is just coming inside and she flashes a warm smile in his direction. “I hope he’s not being too much?”

“Not at all,” Levi says. Holding the box under his arm, he skips back up the stairs and into Eren’s room. Sitting back down on the bed, he holds the blue box out in front of him for the young boy to pick up with grabby, excited hands.

He rips the cardboard open with ease, and sequels as he picks up a snow globe from inside. The globe is rather big – bigger than Eren’s hands – and has a miniature whale situated on a wave inside, with blue specks of glitter that float down when it is shaken. As Levi expected Eren immediately shakes it with force, watching with focused eyes and a toothy grin as the glitter floats down from the top.

“Do you like it?” Levi asks, and the boy nods.

Eren puts down the snow globe next to him, and Levi thinks he’s about to say thank you until Eren leaps forward, wrapping his arms tight around Levi’s neck and snuggling into him. He chuckles, his heart growing warm as he pulls Eren properly onto his lap. He ruffles the boy’s hair, “So it’s a yes?”

“Yes! Yes, yes, yes, I like it so much, thwank’ you Mr Levi! It so pretty!”

“Anytime, Eren,” Levi says, a smile on his face.


	5. A Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry this updated so late. woops. university kicked my ass.

It’s nearing the end of summer when little six-year-old Eren finally musters up the courage.

 It was after kindergarten had finished for the day, with the clock ticking closer to five thirty in the evening. Carla had texted Levi earlier to apologise, and say that she would be running late as work had suddenly piled up and she had to finish a few things before she could pick Eren up. So after everyone else had left, and most of the lights had been turned off in the classroom, Levi sat down beside Eren on the circular blue mat and drew crayon pictures with him.

Art was one of Eren’s favourites activities, but over the past few weeks Levi had been gently pushing Eren to draw something _other_ than the two of them together. It was cute, of course, but Erwin had told Levi that it was slightly inappropriate, and if the other parents saw the masses of crayon drawings of Levi holding Eren’s hand, it might spread… rumours. Rumours that could be very, _very_ damaging to Levi’s career and the kindergarten on 104th street.

So far, he hadn’t really had any luck. The only other drawings Eren drew were ones full of love hearts.

“Mr Levi,” Eren whispers, placing down his pink crayon. He’s lying on his stomach, mirroring Levi beside him. Levi raises a brow in his direction, watching as Eren’s furrow and his lips press into a thin line. He breaths in heavily, eyes hesitantly flicking up to Levi’s. “I like you.”

“I know,” Levi replies. He gives the young boy a small smile, ruffling his hair. “I like you too, Eren. You’re one of my favourite students, here.”

“I like you,” Eren repeated, a little louder, a little sterner. “I like, like, _like_ you.”

_Oh._

Levi closes his notebook softly, where he had been noting down any incidents that had occurred throughout the day (Historia had fell over, scraping her knee, and then Ymir and Reiner had yelled at each other – again, and Connie had almost choked on his biscuits. It had been an eventful day).

His stomach twists. Eren waits beside him patiently, though Levi can sense the nervousness bubbling up inside of him as each second on the clock ticks by.

Whilst there was no harm in Eren having a crush, it was Levi’s duty to make sure it stayed exactly that – a crush. Not that he had any interest whatsoever in doing such a thing to a child; it made him want to gag at simply thinking of such a thing. But if Eren was to like someone in the further, someone other than Levi that was also a little bit older than him, Eren had to know that any sort of progression in his crushes were not okay. There are many adults out there who would take advantage of a child’s innocence and adoration for them.

He sighs, but gives the boy a small smile. “I know, Eren. And… I feel thankful. But I am your teacher, and I am an adult. You’re far too young. I don’t and I can’t like you in that way. I’m sorry.”

There’s a pause. Eren’s lips start to tremble, and his eyes become shiny with tears. Levi’s already sitting up with his arms open wide when Eren starts to cry, his shoulders shaking and lips pouting. The boy rushes forward, pushing his face into Levi’s chest. All Levi can do is hold him close, and give him as much comfort as he possibly can.

“Is because I ugly?” Eren hiccups. “A-A boy in my street, he said I am ugly. That why Mr Levi not want to like me?”

His heart drops. Levi shakes his head, rubbing Eren’s back. A part him grows angry at the unknown brat who would say such a horrid thing to Eren, but he holds back. “You’re not ugly, Eren. Not at all.”

“Then why Mr Levi not like me? I like Mr Levi so much.”

“I know you do-”

“I want us to be _boyfriends_.”  

Levi sighs. He pushes gently on Eren’s shoulders, forcing the boy to look up at him. “Eren, you are six years old. I am twenty-three. Do you understand that?”

The boy nods. Levi continues, knowing that he needs to make it clear to Eren. “You are far, far too young. For me, it has nothing to do with what you look like or who you are, Eren. It’s simply… just the fact that you are a child. I’m not attracted to children, and normal adults aren’t. Any adult who says they like little boys in a romantic way is not to be trusted, okay Eren?”

“But I want Mr. Levi to like me! I want us to kiss!” Eren whines.

Taking in another breath, Levi shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Eren. I’ll be your friend, and you can always ask me for help or hugs if you need it. But I can’t, I won’t, and I don’t want to kiss you, or be your boyfriend. You are too young. Do you understand?”

Eren is crying again. His lips continue to tremble, but he nods. Levi smiles in relief.

“Good. I need you to understand that if any other adult tells you that they like you in this sort of way, to come talk to me about it. It’s not okay, Eren, these adults are bad people, and they hurt little children like you. I want you to be able to trust me, so if another adult – a man or a woman – says they want to kiss you, you tell them not too, alright?”

Eren nods. “Will it make Mr Levi happy if I tell them no?”

“I’ll be very proud of you, Eren.”

“If the bad people say to kiss them, I say no, and tell Mr Levi,” Eren talks to himself, repeating Levi’s words. Levi gives him a reassuring smile, nodding along, glad that the child is understanding.

After a moment’s of silence, Eren takes a deep breath, and meets Levi’s gaze. “When I older, then I can kiss Mr Levi?”

It takes Levi off guard. His mouth falls open, sounds stuck in his throat as he blinks blankly at Eren. He’d never thought about a situation like that. No doubt Levi would still, most likely, know Eren when he is an adult. But he’s almost certain by then that this little crush had faded.

Though, he wasn’t going to lie to Eren and say it wouldn’t be allowed.

It’d be weird – really, really weird – to date your ex-kindergarten teacher. But, as far as Levi knew, technically not illegal. Just weird. Not really socially accepted.

“I suppose. If you still liked me then,” He chuckles, half-expected Eren to laugh too, but the boy is serious when he grabs Levi’s hands and laces their fingers together. Levi goes to pull away, noting their conversation only moments earlier, but Eren grips tighter.

“I’ll always like Mr Levi.”

 

When Carla picks Eren up later that evening, Levi makes sure to tell the woman what happened. Eren is sitting in the car seat, playing games on his Nintendo DS and waiting for his mother and Levi to finish talking at the stairs of the kindergarten when he brings it up.

“I made sure to tell him that it’s not okay,” Levi says, gaze drifting from Carla to the boy sitting in the car. “He seemed upset about it, but I think he understands now.”

“Thank you,” She mumbled. “I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable-”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Eren’s not the first little kid to tell me that they wanted me to be their boyfriend. I honestly don’t know what it is, to be honest,” Levi chuckles.

“It’s probably just them looking up to you. Most little kids either hate their teachers, or find them the coolest people in the world. Eren definitely finds you the coolest person in the world. He’s always talking about how you’re so smart.”  

Levi huffs. “Treating me as if I’m a scientist or something, not just a kindergarten teacher.”

“Hey,” Carla laughs, nudging his side. “Give yourself some credit. Little kids can be a pain to deal with. I only have one, I can’t imagine looking after fifteen or more. It’s a lot of work.”

At that, Levi hums. He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans, looking back over to Carla’s car once more. The sun is setting in the background, and Eren is looking at them with a pout. When the boy notices Levi’s gaze, his lips break into a smile and he waves.

Levi gives him a wave back.

“You know. He said once he’s older he’ll then kiss me.”

“God,” Carla mutters, “I’m sorry. _That_ must have been uncomfortable.”

Levi shrugs. “A little. I’ll probably just use it to tease him when he’s older, though.”

With that, Carla laughs loud, resting her head on his shoulder. “You’ll mortify him.”

“It’ll be payback for all the drawings of us holding hands and kissing that I get every week.”

“You like them!”

Levi rolls his eyes, sending a half-smile her way. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right, they’re cute.”

When she eventually gets into her car and drives away, Eren’s gaze is on his for the entire time. There is a large grin on his face, his cheeks still a little pink. He waves. Levi waves back, continuing until the car is out of sight for he knows Eren was still watching him until the last second.


End file.
